Novelette: Pink Valentine Part III

Hello FABULOUS Ooh La Frou Frou City Girls!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Mine was a relaxing one filled with
some pretty drawings ...
delicious dinners out, romantic movies in ...

an afternoon with favorite magazines in a quiet bookstore ...
fresh strawberries dusted with powdered sugar ...

caramel coffee with whipped cream ...

and, of course, the sparkle of

Oscar Night!

February, the "Love Month,"

has been wrapped in a little extra love

here at the Ooh La Frou Frou City Girls.

What better way to finish the month than

indulging in a little romantic fantasy with

Part III of the Pink Valentine Novelette!

If you missed the first two segments

and would like to read them first,

just go to Part I and Part II.

Are you ready for III?

Then, let's go!

~xo~

As the Upper East Side kisses a lovely day goodbye ...

... and opens its arms to another a glamorous night ...

... we find a certain City Girl tucked away
 in a chic 64th Street townhouse.
On this particular evening, she is filled with anticipation
as she prepares for a glamorous date ...
dinner at an elegant French restaurant in the city,
 La Grenouille.
After a day of shopping and
trying on piece after beautiful piece ...

... her dress has finally been chosen ...
as have the shoes and the clutch and the jewels ...
~ meanwhile ~
... on the other side of town,
her handsome admirer looks forward
to the same romantic evening.
 

Aimee never likes to rush date night preparations.

In fact, she finds luxurious preparation a key ingredient

 in the glamorous fun of it all. 

Having arrived home with her shopping bags,

she made sure she had time to relax a little ...

... then she lowered the lights, lit candles all around and
soaked her tired muscles in a warm scented bath.

Do you real-life City Girls ever turn the
 hot water down at the end of a shower?
Little by little, making the water
 cooler and cooler at the end,
closing your eyes as it washes over your face,
and as it does, imagining you're diving
 into a refreshing pool?
Aimee loves that  .. and, so, on this day,
as a finishing touch, she soaked her tired feet
in a cool treat..

As soft notes of her French CD
 gently wafted through the air around her,
 the bustling city just outside her door
 seemed very far away ...
and memories of her last trip to Paris
fell all about her like petals from the sky ...




As much as she simply adores New York ...
Aimee shares her heart with Paris.
To Aimee it doesn't matter whether it's
Paris in spring ...




... or Paris in winter ...






... she thinks Audrey was absolutely right ...

How lucky was she, then, she thought,
that her date selected a French restaurant!
One by one, Aimee reached into her shopping bags
to pull out her treasures ...

As Aimee is dressing,
let me stop here to say thank you to all of you that
voted last week, selecting your choice of favorite date outfit
from the suggestions offered by four of you
wonderful real-life City Girls ...
and a big thank you to those four that
went on a mental shopping trip for such beautiful choices!
The winner of the vote was
Number 3 ~ Kim of A Very Sweet Blog!
Thank you, Kim, for your suggestions!
Very glamorous, indeed!

Below, I've illustrated the items that
 Kim suggested for Aimee's elegant date ...
don't you think the layers of the pink chiffon dress
will look lovely in the breeze?

 


~ At La Grenouille ~
... a handsome man looks over the menu
 as he awaits the arrival of Aimee ...






... and he is completely unaware that his jaw is about to drop ...
for, as he sits awaiting her at the table ...
a limousine door opens just outside.
Aimee has arrived.

Thank you, everyone, for joining me for a February fantasy!
Have a fabulous week ... I hope it's very sweet!




All Illustration By:
Artist and Illustrator
 Sandra Shelton Markwalder
{Sandy M}
For CUSTOM illustration quotes,
please leave Sandy M a note here.
For Ooh La Frou Frou City Girl cards go here.

Photos in this post found via:
(many edited by Ooh La Frou Frou)
Top to bottom:
City 1 ~ City 2 ~ Sparkling Dresses
Tom Ford Tux ~ Pleated Dress Reclining
Candle ~ Foot Bath ~ Petals Falling
Roses ~ Sheer Dress Over Shorts ~ Paris in Winter
Pink Coat ~ Eiffel Tower ~ Lingerie in Box
Chanel Box ~ Savory Foods Clockwise 1, 2, 3
Sweet Foods Clockwise 1, 2, 3
La Grenouille

Novelette ~ Pink Valentine Part II

Hello Fabulous Ooh La Frou Frou Girls!
You may have joined us last week for our
Pink Valentine Novelette,
where we took a virtual taxi ride to the Upper East Side
to glimpse in on illustrated City Girl Aimee's 

fantasy Valentine plans with a new suitor.
And since it's February
{the Love Month},
we're taking the fun a little further this week with

Pink Valentine Novelette Part II
{if you missed Part I and would like to read it first, do go here!}.

New York City days have a way of speeding by
from morning to night in a
~ New York Minute ~
so, let's not miss any fun and start Part II right away, shall we?

Oh, Taxi!
Upper East Side please!

If there is anything that Aimee loves
 as much as the Sparkle of New York City,
it is the Sparkle of Paris ...
 

... and to Aimee, the only thing that could make
~ Sparkle ~
any more fabulous
would be to sprinkle it on pink
 to create pure magic ...

... so you can imagine her delight when she received the

~ Pink Heart Valentine ~
in the mail, inviting her to a
beautiful French restaurant in the city ...
La Grenouille!
Tres magnifique!

When we last left Aimee, she had spent the afternoon 
walking all over the city,
popping in and out of store after store,
 searching for everything from dresses and shoes
to perfume and nail polish ...
and trying on more sparkle than she could even recall ...
in preparation for her Valentine date.

As we peek in on Aimee this week,
she is just arriving back at her 64th Street townhouse,
her arms heaped with boxes and bags.

With only a few hours to go until her date,
all Aimee wants to do is make a hot cup of white peach tea,
turn on spa music, light some candles
and soak in a

luxurious

warm 

Is there anything more sparkling to our senses than
preparing for a special night?
Bathing, creaming, powdering, perfuming, nail polishing,
playing with hair?



And then the joy of stepping into
 soft, beautiful lingerie.

As the excitement for the evening
builds with every moment,
Aimee steps into her bedroom
and delves into all of the shopping bags
lined up in a row by her bed.
She practically feels glitter in the air!

We all have policies ...
and this is one of Aimee's::
If you're going to look fabulous,
you might as well make a
"Sparkling Entrance" ...
and Aimee plans to.
Rather than have her date
 pick her up at her townhouse,
she'll be taking a limousine to
La Grenouille
so that she can make that
Sparkling Entrance.
After all ...
why do the ordinary?

To see what Aimee pulls out of her bags,
we'll have to wait until next week, darlings!
You may remember that last week on
Pink Valentine Novelette
 I mentioned that if any of you had suggestions
for Aimee's date attire,
to let me know and that
you may see your choice of outfit in a future post ...
well, NEXT WEEK is that post
when Aimee makes her
awaited
"Grand Entrance"!

 Four lovelies
mentioned in their comments
what they envisioned Aimee wearing!
How fun!

 Below is a brief description of what they suggested
{I've included a link to go with the descriptions
only when a specific piece or link was mentioned ...
otherwise, we can all just use our imagination!}.
 Aimee will be illustrated in the winning outfit
next week in
Pink Valentine Novelette Part III!

 BELOW ARE THE SUGGESTIONS TO VOTE ON:
{Voting will only be held open only through
midnight EST this Wednesday, February 22
to allow time for the illustration.}


Rowena suggests:
(a) A "Little Pink Dress" instead of a "Little Black Dress"
(b) punctuated by some sparkly accessories!



Elizabeth suggests:
(a) A dress with one shoulder down
(b) with a jewel brooch at the waist,
(c) the highest strappy heels she can muster
(d) and her long hair in gorgeous waves ...
(e) and a pair of Marie Helene de Taillec earrings
as the crowning touch!


Kim suggests:
(a) A light carnation pink Carmen Marc Valvo plunge neck 
chiffon gown from Bergdorf-Goodman;
(b) Pierre Hardy rhinestone sandals from Barneys;
(c) Camelia Earrings in 18k white gold and diamonds from Chanel;
(d) Chanel 02A Pearl White Camelia Belt Necklace from
Soho boutique: "A Second Chance Couture";
(e) A Miu Miu Cloquet Nappa Leather Stage Clutch with Swarovski Crystals;
(f) and for later in the evening she suggests:
Christian Louboutin Bollywoody high heels in hot pink suede;
(g) and peony candles from Henri Bendel!


Christel suggests:
(a) A red Valentino cocktail dress with bows on the shoulders;
(b) or timeless, classic and sexy Lanvin red dress from
Bergdorf-Goodman!

Vote for your choice below!

Thanks for voting everyone!

~ Now ~
for the moment we've been waiting for ...
 the results of our giveaway
of the 11" x 17" print of my "Paris Party" illustration! 

 Thank you to everyone that participated in the giveaway
with your comments ...
I gave all of you that left a comment a number in the order
 that you commented last week
(not counting my comments, of course!)
and the winner of the
11" x 17" print of my "Paris Party" illustration
was chosen via random generator


Congratulations:

Christel, Captivated by Image!
Please contact me here, Christel, with your mailing address!
 If any others would like this print,
 it will soon be available for purchase
in the "Ooh La Frou Frou Boutique" above!

I'll end this post with
some fun links and eye candy:
(1) You may have noticed that I illustrated Prada's Candy perfume above.
Prada Candy's ad campaign is pretty darn cute
and is based upon a fictional "wild child" in pink underwear
who doesn't wait for her piano teacher that she has the hots for
to make the first move!
This Prada link has some very fun things to click on for a little fun!

(2) You'll notice that in my illustration above,
alongside the Prada Candy bottle, is a bottle of OPI Passion nail color.
 Time to play again!
Did you know that if you go to this OPI link 
and click on the "Try On This Color" tab
you can see what OPI colors look like on the hand illustration there ...
and you can even change the skin color to match yours!

(3)  And since this post was is about sparkle,
no one does sparkle better than Elie Saab.
 I'll end with a fabulous
 EYE CANDY link that is just pure beauty
and one I can never get enough of!I think you'll love the Elie Saab Fashion Show
 from Paris Haute Couture
Spring-Summer 2012
 Fashion Week!
Bye Lovelies!

All ILLUSTRATION in this post is by the
artist, illustrator and founder of Ooh La Frou Frou:
Sandra Shelton Markwalder
{Sandy M}

For CUSTOM ILLUSTRATION inquiries, contact Sandy M here.
To purchase OOH LA FROU FROU CITY GIRL CARDS
 featuring Sandy M illustrations, go here.

Photography and Cinemagraphs used in this post is were found via
{top to bottom}
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13